Separation Anxiety
by TitanFodder
Summary: Balthier leaves for a weekend to hunt for treasure, leaving Vaan to his own devices. Rated M for suggestive content.


" _I'm not going to see you for days, am I?"_

" _Well, for three days at the most," Balthier wrapped his arms around Vaan gently as the two lay in their shared bed, naked and exhausted from the afternoon's promiscuities. "Fran says this mark's a big one. It'll take a bit for us to get it."_

" _I really don't want you to go…" Vaan mumbled against the other's chest. "I'll be sure to have a new ring here for you when you get back. You might not come back if I don't have some sort of treasure waiting for you."_

" _Vaan, you're my treasure," he kissed the top of the blonde's head, blushing lightly at the cheesiness of what he'd just said._

And this is how the weekend had started.

It hadn't even been one day, and Vaan was missing Balthier pretty badly.

Nothing interesting had really happened, nothing ever did anymore. Rabanastre was always peaceful and busy, but never eventful.

"Vaan, c'mon, get out of bed." Penelo shook her friend gently. It was noon on another sunny, scorching hot desert Saturday. He had to get up some time.

"I don't wanna." He said almost bitterly, pulling the covers up over his head despite being overheated.

"Okay, so literally every other day, you get out of bed early and you're gone the entire day, but you draw the line today?" She frowned and yanked the covers off of him. "We need help downstairs. I wouldn't bother you otherwise, and it wouldn't kill you to pull your own weight around here."

"Ugh, fine." He scowled and forced himself to sit up. There really was no reason for him to get up, not without his pirate around. He stood and stretched, watching the blonde girl in pigtails staring as he did so.

"You know, Balthier told me to keep an eye on you while he's gone. I'm sure he wouldn't approve of this behavior," she crossed her arms as if she'd just proved a point.

"You're one to talk. I see how you are when you're away from Larsa for too long."

"I'm still productive," she threw a clean button-up shirt at him. "Please take a bath or something before coming down, okay? You need it." She reinforced the idea by dusting the dirt off his arm and left the room.

Vaan sighed to himself and left the small room he and Penelo shared growing up, and, after a much needed shower, he found himself down in Migelo's shop, continuing to slack off. _I don't want to be here, I have other places I could go, things I could be doing…_ he thought to himself, but Penelo made sure to keep him busy.

"Vaan, my boy, I need you to run this order out for me," Migelo, who seemed to be in a bit of pain that day, heaved a moderately sized yet surprisingly heavy box onto the counter.

"Yeah, I can do that." He was just standing around at the moment anyhow. "Where to?"

"The Sandsea. Tomaj had requested it be delivered right away."

Vaan's eyes widened slightly.

" _And don't go to the Sandsea. I don't want you anywhere near Tomaj." Balthier's voice seemed a bit cold._

 _Vaan understood perfectly why. After Balthier and Fran had disappeared in the fall of Bahamut, Tomaj had been there to pick up the pieces of the boy's heart, and, subsequently, stole it in the process. However, it's been a long time since he's seen Tomaj (Balthier wouldn't allow it when they got back together), but Balthier was protective and didn't want anything put to chance._

" _I won't. I promise."_

Imagine what Balthier would think, if Vaan ran straight to Tomaj when he left for a few days.

"I can't do that," Vaan shook his head, hoping Migelo wouldn't push the issue.

"C'mon Vaan," Pen pat his shoulder and set a half open box of spices on the counter next to him. "I know it'll be kind of awkward between you guys but it won't be that bad."

 _That's not what I'm worried about…_ He thought inwardly. "Can't Kytes or Filo do it?"

"They're out on other errands," Migelo said. "Sorry, boy."

He sighed. _Well, Balthier didn't need to know. I won't be there long enough for anything worth mentioning to happen anyway._ "Yeah okay. Sure." He grabbed the box rather carelessly and schlepped out the door, down to the Sandsea, watching over his shoulder in an almost paranoid manner.

When Vaan arrived, the Sandsea was empty. They never opened till 6pm on weekends, since the bulk of their business came in to drink later in the day, so why Vaan was surprised by this was unknown to him. Tomaj had been there though. Of course he was. Because Vaan couldn't catch a break, ever.

Tomaj took notice of him quickly. "Oh, Vaan. Good to see you again." He started slowly, noting how tense the blonde boy was. "What brings you by?"

"Migelo asked me to drop this off for you," he set the box on the nearest table. "And I'm pretty busy today so I think I'll be off now." He turned to the door only to be stopped by a hand grabbing him by the wrist.

"What's the rush?" He pulled Vaan back a few steps, getting uncomfortably close. "I haven't seen you in a while. How have you been?"

"Fine." Vaan said quickly, hoping the other would notice his unwillingness to carry on a conversation and leave him be.

Unfortunately, Tomaj didn't pick up on this, and he wove his fingers with Vaan's. "I missed you. I hadn't seen you in some time, and I thought something had happened to you, but Kytes tells me you're involved with the pirate Balthier now, eh?"

Damnit, Kytes.

"Yeah, I am." There was no point denying it. Like Jules, Tomaj had multiple contacts that continually fed him information about anything he wanted to know.

"And where is he?"

"Not here."

"Hmm. Interesting." Tomaj's hands left Vaan's and snaked around the younger male's waist. "So he left you again?"

Vaan hated everything that was happening at the moment. He hated that Tomaj was trying to get close to him despite knowing he was with another. He harbored a special hatred against him for saying such a thing about Balthier, as if he wasn't coming back or something. But he mostly hated the fact that he didn't hate the attention enough to push him aside.

"I really don't like that you disappeared on me, without so much as a goodbye," he whispered against the boy's ear. "I'm sure you know how that feels, since it appears it just happened again."

"It did NOT." Vaan forced himself away from the other. "Balthier is just going to be gone for a couple of days. He's coming back for me. There's no way he'd just leave me."

"How could you possibly think that?" Tomaj got defensive, and Vaan couldn't tell what he had been thinking. "Isn't that what he did the first time?"

Vaan felt himself tense. "He didn't…"

"Vaan, I know men like that pirate," His expression softened a bit, as if to lure the other in, and once again held the other in his arms. Vaan was a bit reluctant, but made no effort to move. "They take what they want, and leave. He got what he wanted, and now he's gone, isn't he?"

"You're lying…" The younger man held his breath in a feeble attempt to keep from crying and falling into the other's arms weakly. "Balthier wouldn't…"

"Think about it, okay?" Tomaj planted a kiss atop the boy's head and let go of him. "I do miss you, you know." He picked up the box and took it to the other side of the bar, leaving Vaan to figure himself out before leaving.

Vaan called it an early night, going to bed as soon as it was plausible.

 _Going there was a mistake. Someone else should've done it. I know Balthier wouldn't have let me. He'd lock me away in his bedroom before letting me go there,_ he quietly stewed, thinking on Tomaj's words quite a bit. He wasn't going to lie to himself; the other had planted doubt inside of him, and he couldn't shake it away. Especially since he was alone in his bed, without his sky pirate to hold him till he fell asleep. It wasn't easy, and it wasn't likely, as he realized he could've just stayed in the Strahl and wait for them, but Balthier insisted he stay. He cried into his pillow at the thought, and finally fell asleep.

 **/A/N: I'm so bored. My writing is probably suffering because of it. Chapter two coming soon. Anywho, welcome back Balthierfan6828! Missed you around here. Hope you'll stick around a while, but don't force yourself to write if you're not feeling it. Hope you enjoyed this. For you, with love.**


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